Steve Nash Doesn't Care If Ben Simmons Never Takes A Jumpshot
You could make the case that people (the internet) make way too big a deal about Ben Simmons' lack of ability when it comes to shooting the basketball. It's for sure a sensitive subject for Simmons based on what he just said on JJ Redick's podcast earlier this week
and to some degree, both he and Nash are right. People do tend to overlook everything that Simmons is really good at all because he can't/won't shoot. You can still make a positive impact on the floor without a reliable jumper, especially when you are the type of versatile defender and playmaker that Simmons is.
At the same time, while it may not be why Simmons was brought in, it's clear to anyone with eyes that if the Nets want to be successful, his jump shooting needs to improve. At the very least he has to be willing to take them! Nobody is demanding he become a midrange god like KD. You can even be below league average! There just needs to be a potential threat that the ball is going up. The book is out on how to defend a team that Simmons plays on, it generally looks like this
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it jacks up your offensive spacing. Defenses are going to have a much easier time focusing on shutting down Durant and Kyrie if they don't have to worry about Simmons even attempting a jumper. They can sag off and cheat defensively which has proven to work. That's what made the Kyrie/Harden/KD trio so tough to guard when everyone was healthy. You couldn't sag off any of them since you had to respect their shooting, and then once they got by you and forced you into rotations, the Nets killed you with their shooters.
We have a large enough sample where you can say pretty confidently that Simmons' lack of shooting isn't something that is overcome by his ability to defend or pass. There's been no growth there since he entered the league and when defenses slow down and things get tougher in a playoff series, it almost always played a factor. We just saw the Nets already have issues this past postseason when it came to facing an elite defense, so now imagine a series where they are facing a good defense while playing 4 on 5 offensively. That's probably not going to work.
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One potential way the Nets can help Simmons avoid this issue is something that many people have been begging teams to do for years. Play him at the 5. I feel like that's where we may finally be headed this season
For whatever reason, we never really saw Doc or any PHI coach consistently put Simmons at the 5 spot and let him utilize the short roll. If he's not going to be a jump shooting threat, find ways to get him looks/touches in ways we know he can thrive in. His size and ability to finish at the rim is one way to do that as long as Trae Young isn't lurking around. Now that he's on a team with Kyrie/KD has primary ball handlers, Simmons is going to have to find ways to be effective off ball. Being a screener is a simple solution. Given his vision, you can trust him to find weakside shooters if teams rotate on his roll to take that away.
I know most people obsess over his unwillingness to shoot threes, but I don't think he even has to do that. Just take a normal jumpshot. The last time we saw him play in 2020-21, he took 583 total FGA. Of that number, a total of 107 were "jumpshots". He finished at 38.3%! That's not terrible! That 107 number was also the fewest of any type of shot Simmons took (layup/dunk/hook shot/jump shot). The year before he went 34-96 on "jumpshots" which is 35.4%. Again, that doesn't blow your dick off but it's also not god awful to the point where you should avoid it at all costs.
I'm fascinated to see how this all works out in BKN because I am not someone that thinks they are doomed or anything like that. I think there's real talent on this roster before you even factor in the players they are getting back from injury. How Simmons fits with Kyrie/KD is going to go a long way to determine the ceiling of this group, and if he's used correctly while also not being afraid to let it fly once in a while, I don't see why it wouldn't work.